Nolan and Richard review victory over Bears and preview game against the Ravens on Monday.
Nolan and Richard review victory over Bears and preview game against the Ravens on Monday.
Lake Forest, Ill. – Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson called out his team on Wednesday, saying his players aren’t practicing hard enough.
“I think our practice habits are yet to reflect a championship-caliber team,” he said.
Asked specifically which practice habits aren’t “championship-caliber,” Johnson gave a lengthy list.
“We should be going to the football, finishing hard,” he said. “We talk about it all the time with the offensive players that our fundamentals, our finish and our technique, they need to show up in walk-through, they need to show up on the practice field. That’s how it shows up on game day.
“Simple things of how do we properly block? How do we catch the ball? How do we block after the catch? Ball security and things like that. It’s the little things that you learn in youth league football that even at this level, they make a huge difference.”
Johnson’s comments came in the wake of a 52-21 rout at Detroit on Sunday. The 52 points allowed were three shy of the franchise record and the most since the Bears lost 55-14 to Green Bay in Week 10 of the 2014 season.
Chicago has allowed 73 points over the past five quarters. Minnesota rallied from 11 points down in the fourth quarter for a 27-24 win with J.J. McCarthy leading the comeback in his first start.
Johnson is in his first head coaching job. He was one of the most sought-after candidates on the head coaching market following a successful run as Detroit’s offensive coordinator.
Chicago hosts Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys this week.
Flacco faces relentless Packers defense
Berea, Ohio – Joe Flacco can’t escape from pressure, whether it is speculation about how much longer he will remain as the Cleveland Browns starting quarterback or facing another difficult defense.
After struggling in his return to Baltimore last week, things don’t get any easier for Flacco or the sputtering Browns offense this week. They face a Green Bay defense on Sunday that has brought plenty of pressure to opposing quarterbacks the first two weeks.
The Packers – off to their first 2-0 start since 2020 – are second in the league in sacks (eight) but lead in hurries (21) and quarterback hits (18).
All-Pro defensive end Micah Parsons has already made his presence felt with the Packers after being acquired from Dallas on Aug. 27. He is tied for fourth in the league with 9 1/2 hurries along with 1 1/2 sacks and 3 1/2 quarterback hits.
Flacco has thrown three interceptions and completed just 16 of 33 passes when under pressure. His 23.5 passer rating under pressure is second lowest in the league among QBs that have played two games.
That is a huge drop-off from his 63.5 average passer rating the past seven seasons when being pressured.
“I think when you go through your progressions and your reads, it’s always built to get the ball out in certain timing. So, I think you just got to kind of rely on your training and going through your progressions and listening to your feet. I think the rest will take care of itself,” Flacco said.
Cleveland’s offense has also struggled generating a downfield passing game as it is 0-2 for the first time in eight seasons. Flacco has only one completion on a deep pass thrown 20 yards or more and is 11 of 19 on intermediate throws of 10-19 air yards.
Making matters difficult is Flacco is facing a Green Bay defense that is among the top four teams in the league in using zone coverage. Flacco’s 73.8 passer rating against zone is sixth lowest in the league.
“I think every week is a different challenge from a coverage standpoint, from a rush protection standpoint. And you have to find the schemes and obviously put the players in positions,” coach Kevin Stefanski said. “There’s also times when you’re going to call those plays or try to get to those plays and the defense won’t allow you to.”
One thing that would help Flacco is if the run game can get up to speed. Quinshon Judkins had 61 yards on 10 carries, including a 31-yard run in the fourth quarter, in his NFL debut last week.
Judkins is listed as the lead running back on the depth chart the Browns put out this week.
“The exciting thing this week is that he’s going to get to sit in every single meeting, go out and do walk-throughs, every single walk-through, go out and practice, get the reps,” Flacco said about Judkins. “I think he’s got a lot of talent, so that’s what’s exciting for us, is just to get an explosive guy some touches and see what he can do with it.”
Packers coach Matt LaFleur said Flacco is one of the purest throwers he has seen on tape, and that his defense is going to have to be dialed in on pass coverage, as well as continuing to bring pressure.
“There’s nothing that he hasn’t seen. I think a big key is just going to be able to try to get him off the spot, get pressure to him,” LaFleur said. “I always tell our guys, whether it’s our quarterback or anybody else, it’s hard to throw from your back. So I think that’s going to be critical, but he can make every throw. He’s super intelligent. He throws on time. The ball’s going to come out of his hand.”
Jaguars’ Lawrence ‘way past’ violent hit
Jacksonville, Fla. – Trevor Lawrence has watched the replay dozens of times, even recently. The slide. The hit. The reaction. The aftermath.
He’s over it. Lawrence doesn’t really want to relive it again this week as Houston linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair prepares to return to Jacksonville for the first time since knocking Lawrence out of a game last December and getting suspended for three games.
“I’m past that, way past that at this point in my life,” Lawrence said Wednesday. “It’s not something I’ve thought about since then. Everybody’s different. It’s football. It’s a violent game. Obviously, it’s unfortunate when things like that happen.
“I don’t want to get into all of that again. We’re past that. Not going to look into the rearview mirror.”
Lawrence doesn’t plan to go out of his way to see Al-Shaair before the game, either. But he realizes the two captains will meet at midfield for the coin toss.
“Will I say anything to him? Not outside of … what I would do with whoever was out there for the toss,” Lawrence said.
Lawrence was carted off the field after taking a shot from Al-Shaair to the facemask. The late hit caused a sideline-clearing brawl and a second scuffle a few minutes later.
The unsportsmanlike blow left Lawrence in the fencing position – a common response to a traumatic brain injury in which both fists clench – and he stayed on the ground for several minutes while a melee ensued nearby. Lawrence was quickly ruled out with a concussion.
Al-Shaair was ejected and then got hit in the helmet with a water bottle thrown by a fan as he left the field. He apologized to Lawrence via social media the following day and was eventually suspended without pay for repeated violations of player safety rules.
“I’ve gotten all type of crazy stuff since that day, and I still get it to this day from people just in general,” Al-Shaair said Wednesday. “I don’t know if they’re fans of football or they just hate me. Either way, that’s between them and God. But I have no clue.
“I know I’m going to go out there and do what I’ve done my entire career, play as hard as I can (and) anybody who got the ball in their hand, that’s who I’m trying to hit and just do my job.”
New Jaguars coach Liam Coen doesn’t expect any kind of retribution when the Texans (0-2) try to win their seventh consecutive game at Jacksonville (1-1) on Sunday.
“If that’s on our minds, then we’re probably thinking about the wrong things right now,” Coen said.
The best response from the Jaguars would be to notch a victory, one that would put the two-time defending AFC South champions in a huge hole; Houston is one of only six teams since 1979 to make the playoffs after opening the season 0-3.
“Obviously, you don’t want to see your teammates get hit,” Jaguars defensive end Josh Hines-Allen said. “The emotions were high. At the end of the day, man, that was last year. Trevor’s a tough guy and he bounced back. I know he’s excited to go out there and play to the best of his ability and go from there.”
Al-Shaair, who said he was in a “really dark place” during the suspension and wondered if he’d ever play again, still seems disappointed about how he was characterized. NFL vice president of football operations Jon Runyan said the defender’s “lack of sportsmanship and respect for the game of football” was troubling.
“It’s definitely a personal thing in a way because it’s just about the credibility of my name,” Al-Shaair said. “But I guess that’s more just how I attack the whole season because obviously that was a league-wide thing that they tried to make me out to be somebody that I wasn’t.
“For me, I’ve just kind of been trying to prove a point every single week of who I am, and I play hard, but I play the game the right way, so that’s just what I’m going to keep doing.”
Nix, Payton downplay viral sideline exchange
Englewood, Colo. – Bo Nix and Sean Payton downplayed their most recent sideline exchange as each presented his version of events.
The Denver Broncos quarterback maintained that what appeared to be a heated conversation Sunday at Indianapolis wasn’t so much volatile as volume-related. His coach said it was simply a matter trying to get an explanation following a play.
“For whatever reason, we’re allowing conversations to become bigger than what they are,” Nix said Wednesday, three days after the moment between him and Payton went viral as the Broncos lost 29-28 to the Colts on a field goal as time expired.
Nix added the moment had more to do with not being able to hear over the noise.
“We oftentimes forget that it’s a big stadium and a lot of people are talking at same time,” said Nix, the 12th overall pick out of Oregon in the 2024 NFL draft. “So you’ve got to be a little bit louder and more vocal.”
The kerfuffle happened late in the third quarter as Nix came off the field following an incomplete pass to Evan Engram to force a punt. Payton appeared to ask Nix something as his QB walked past him toward the bench. Payton then took a few steps in the direction of Nix, who turned around and uttered something to his coach while gesturing with his hands. Nix then walked away.
“That was just something as simple as he asked me what happened on a play,” Nix said. “I told him, I turned, he couldn’t quite hear, turned back and told him again. There were no issues. It’s just a quick conversation with the head coach. Nothing pressing.”
Payton minimized the situation, too.
“I saw what you guys saw. That wasn’t what it appeared, though,” Payton said. “It was an affirmation of, ‘This is what we’re wanting to do.’ … I think it was more about excitement, but I saw it.
“I guess what I’m saying is I don’t think it was what it appeared. In fact, I know it wasn’t.”
Nix and Payton had a confrontation last October after the QB went off-script against the Los Vegas Raiders.
Payton was hot and Nix hollered back. After that particular dust-up, Payton said of his then rookie QB: “There is still a little bit of Ferris Bueller in him we are trying to get rid of. I love him to death. And sometimes (what you saw) is my love language.”
One thing Nix won’t be toning down is his aggressive nature on the football field. He had two interceptions and a fumble in a season-opening win over Tennessee. He threw three TD passes against the Colts but also a costly interception in the fourth quarter with the team in field-goal range.
“For me, I’m always going to be aggressive, especially with our defense, knowing that they can go out there and get a stop,” Nix said. “You can’t play the game, you can’t play the position, soft. You have to go out there and be aggressive.
“If you’re scared to make a bad play, it’s usually when the bad plays happen.”
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